General Information
Smith & Howard Wealth Management, LLC (“SHWM”) was formed in 1999 and provides financial
planning and portfolio management services to our clients.
SHWM is directly owned by Smith and Howard Advisory Holdings LLC, which in turn is owned by a
holding company, Smith and Howard Investment Holdings LLC. Individuals who are employed or
compensated by Smith and Howard Advisory LLC, an affiliated company also owned by Smith and
Howard Advisory Holdings LLC, collectively own less than 50% of Smith and Howard Investment
Holdings LLC (with no individual owning more than 5%), with the remainder owned by BSP-SH,
Inc. BSP-SH, Inc. is controlled by Broad Sky Partners, LP and its General Partner, Broad Sky
Partners GP LLC.
Please see Brochure Supplements, Exhibit A, for more information on the individuals who
formulate investment advice and have direct contact with clients, or have discretionary authority
over client accounts.
As of October 31, 2023, SHWM managed $502,536,922 on a discretionary basis, and no assets on a
non-discretionary basis.
SERVICES OFFERED
At the outset of our relationship, SHWM spends time with you asking questions, discussing your
investment experience and financial circumstances, and broadly identifying your major goals.
You may elect to retain us to prepare a full financial plan. This plan is presented to you for
consideration. In most cases, clients subsequently retain us to manage their investment portfolio
on an ongoing basis.
For those financial planning clients making this election, and for other clients who do not need
financial planning but retain us for portfolio management services, based on all the information
initially gathered, we generally develop with you:
• a financial outline for you based on your financial circumstances and goals, and your risk
tolerance level (the “Financial Profile” or “Profile”);
• your investment objectives and guidelines (the “Investment Plan” or “Plan”).
The Financial Profile is a reflection of your current financial picture and a look to your future goals.
The Investment Plan outlines the types of investments we will make on your behalf to meet those
goals. The Profile and the Plan are discussed regularly with you, but are not necessarily written
documents.
Finally, where we provide only limited financial planning or general consulting services, we will
work with you to prepare an appropriate summary of the specific project(s) to the extent necessary
or advisable under the circumstances.
Financial Planning
One of the services offered by us is financial planning, as described below. This service may be
provided as a stand-alone service, or may be coupled with ongoing portfolio management.
Financial planning may include advice that addresses one or more areas of your financial situation,
such as estate planning, risk management, budgeting and cash flow controls, retirement planning,
education funding, and investment portfolio design. Depending on your particular situation,
financial planning may include some or all of the following:
• Gathering factual information concerning your personal and financial situation;
• Assisting you in establishing financial goals and objectives;
• Analyzing your present situation and anticipated future activities in light of your financial
goals and objectives;
• Identifying problems foreseen in the accomplishment of these financial goals and objectives
and offering alternative solutions to the problems;
• Making recommendations to help achieve retirement plan goals and objectives;
• Designing an investment portfolio to help meet your goals and objectives;
• Providing estate planning;
• Assessing risk and reviewing basic health, life and disability insurance needs; or
• Reviewing goals and objectives and measuring progress toward these goals.
Once Financial Planning advice is given, you may choose to have us implement your financial plan
and manage your investment portfolio on an ongoing basis. However, you are under no obligation
to act upon any of the recommendations made by us under a Financial Planning engagement and/or
engage the services of any recommended professional.
Portfolio Management
As described above, at the beginning of our relationship, we meet with you, gather information, and
perform research and analysis as necessary to develop your Investment Plan. Your Investment
Plan will be updated from time to time when requested by you, or when determined to be
necessary or advisable by us based on updates to your financial or other circumstances.
To implement your Investment Plan, we will manage your investment portfolio on a discretionary
basis. As a discretionary investment adviser, we will have the authority to supervise and direct
your portfolio without prior consultation with you.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may impose certain written restrictions on us in the
management of your investment portfolio, such as prohibiting the inclusion of certain types of
investments in your investment portfolio or prohibiting the sale of certain investments held in your
account at the commencement of our relationship. You should note, however, that restrictions
imposed by you may adversely affect the composition
and performance of your investment
portfolio. You should also note that your investment portfolio is treated individually by giving
consideration to each purchase or sale for your account. For these and other reasons, performance
of your investment portfolio within the same investment objectives, goals and/or risk tolerance
may differ and you should not expect that the composition or performance of your investment
portfolio would necessarily be consistent with similar clients of ours.
Separate Account Managers
When appropriate and in accordance with your Investment Plan, we may recommend the use of
one or more Separate Account Managers, each a “Manager”. Having access to various Managers
offers a wide variety of manager styles, and offers you the opportunity to utilize more than one
Manager if necessary to meet your needs and investment objectives. We will recommend the
Manager(s) we deem most appropriate for you. Factors that we consider in selecting Managers
generally include your stated investment objective(s), management style, performance, risk level,
reputation, reporting, pricing, and research.
The Manager(s) will generally be granted discretionary trading authority to provide investment
supervisory services for your portfolio, but we retain the authority to terminate the Manager’s
relationship or to add new Managers without your specific consent. With respect to assets
managed by a Manager, our role will be to monitor your overall financial situation, to monitor the
investment approach and performance of the Manager (s), and to assist you in understanding the
investments of your portfolio. In instances where the services of one or more Managers are
utilized, the Manager’s fee will be charged in addition to our fee.
Additionally, certain Managers may impose more restrictive account requirements than us, billing
practices may vary. In such instances, we may be required to alter our corresponding account
requirements and/or billing practices to accommodate those of the Manager(s).
Retirement Plan Advisory Services
Establishing a sound fiduciary governance process is vital to good decision-making and to ensuring
that prudent procedural steps are followed in making investment decisions. We will provide
Retirement Plan consulting services to Plans and Plan Fiduciaries as described below. The
particular services provided will be detailed in the consulting agreement. The appropriate Plan
Fiduciary(ies) designated in the Plan documents (e.g., the Plan sponsor or named fiduciary) will (i)
make the decision to retain our firm; (ii) agree to the scope of the services that we will provide; and
(iii) make the ultimate decision as to accepting any of the recommendations that we may provide.
The Plan Fiduciaries are free to seek independent advice about the appropriateness of any
recommended services for the Plan. Retirement Plan consulting services may be offered
individually or as part of a comprehensive suite of services.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) sets forth rules under which Plan
Fiduciaries may retain investment advisers for various types of services with respect to Plan assets.
For certain services, we will be considered a fiduciary under ERISA. For example, we will act as an
ERISA § 3(21) fiduciary when providing non-discretionary investment advice to the Plan
Fiduciaries by recommending a suite of investments as choices among which Plan Participants may
select. Also, to the extent that the Plan Fiduciaries retain us to act as an investment manager within
the meaning of ERISA § 3(38), we will provide discretionary investment management services to
the Plan.
When we provide investment advice to you regarding your retirement plan account or individual
retirement account, we are fiduciaries within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable, which are
laws governing retirement accounts. The way we make money creates some conflicts with your
interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best interest and not put
our interests ahead of yours. Additional disclosure may be found elsewhere in this Brochure or in
the written agreement between you and SHWM.
Fiduciary Consulting Services
• Investment Selection Services
We will provide Plan Fiduciaries with recommendations of investment options consistent
with ERISA section 404(c). Plan Fiduciaries retain responsibility for the final determination
of investment options and for compliance with ERISA section 404(c).
• Non-Discretionary Investment Advice
We provide Plan Fiduciaries and Plan Participants general, non-discretionary investment
advice regarding asset classes and investments.
• Investment Monitoring
We will assist in monitoring the plan’s investment options by preparing periodic
investment reports that document investment performance, consistency of fund
management and conformation to the guidelines set forth in the investment policy
statement and we will make recommendations to maintain or remove and replace
investment options. The details of this aspect of service will be enumerated in the
engagement agreement between the parties.